


The Pleasure of Purpose

by bardsley



Category: The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Genre: F/M, Obedience, Post-Canon, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8169002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bardsley/pseuds/bardsley
Summary: Westley makes Buttercup more comfortable.





	

 The sea was calm, but the __Revenge__ creaked and groaned around them. Westley watched Buttercup toss restlessly on the narrow bed. Although Westley was only the first mate, Captain Roberts had been kind enough to lend Westley, Buttercup, and their child-that-would-be the use of the captain’s cabin. Buttercup ran her hand across the bulge of her belly. Westley had never found pregnant women particularly erotic, until Buttercup became pregnant. There truly seemed to be a new glow to her creamy skin. Her previously perfect breasts, were, perhaps, now over-abundant, but that too had a distinct appeal.

 

“Stop looking at me,” Buttercup complained. “I can feel you looking at me.”

 

Pregnancy had its disadvantages too, not the least of it was that it seemed to make Buttercup herself feel anything but erotic.

 

“As you wish,” Westley replied. He closed his eyes.

 

He heard the rustle of the bedclothes as Buttercup turned toward him.

 

“Don’t start that again,” Buttercup said tiredly.

 

“Obeying your every command? My beloved, I never stopped.”

 

Buttercup sighed heavily. He felt her turn back over onto her side. “If I commanded you to carry this baby instead of me, would you do that?”

 

“Alas, that is not in my power—”

 

Buttercup laughed sharply. “As if you would choose to be in this condition if you could.”

 

“—but if you give me a command that I can obey, then I will,” Westley promised. He did not argue her analysis. Buttercup could be simple sometimes, but she was not stupid.

 

Westley waited. He knew his beloved well by now, but like any woman worth knowing, Buttercup could still be unpredictable. Were he to wager — and making wagers was a habit one developed when living with pirates — then he would have bet that Buttercup would take him up on the offer.

 

“Oh, very well,” Buttercup said. She shifted into yet another position. The sound she made suggested that she was not anymore pleased with this one. “Give me your pillow.”

 

“May I open my eyes?” Westley asked.

 

“Yes!”

 

Westley did not need to open his eyes to know that Buttercup was rolling hers. As soon as his eyes were open, he felt compelled to look at her. After everything that had happened before the two of them were able to be together — pirates, betrayal, torture — Westley could not help but think of those events as nothing more than minor inconveniences. He would suffer all of it again and more to be with Buttercup in this moment; crankiness, pregnancy, and all. Westley lifted his head and picked up his pillow. He gestured for Buttercup to raise her head.

 

“No, put it behind my back,” she said, rolling to the side so that Westley could do as she asked. The movement made her grunt with effort.

 

“We can get more pillows for you,” Westley said, fluffing the pillow before putting it into place.

 

“I don’t want more pillows,” Buttercup answered. She rolled into position on the pillow. This time, the grunt she made seemed to be one of relief. “I just want yours.”

 

Westley resisted the urge to laugh. “Is there anything else that you want?” Westley asked, making his tone sympathetic. “Are you hungry?”

 

“Don’t even make me think of food,” Buttercup answered sulkily. She ran her hand across her belly again. “I am thirsty though. Fetch me that pitcher?”

 

The pang of nostalgia was sharp. Westley climbed out of bed and walked toward the hook where the pitcher was hung. He filled it with fresh water before bringing it back with him along with a cup.

 

When Westley returned to the bed and handed the cup to Buttercup, his fingers brushed against hers and lingered.  He gently stroked the back of her hand.

 

“As you wish,” Westley said.

 

Buttercup bit her lip. For a moment, she seemed caught and held by whatever she saw in Westley’s eyes. “You can’t be serious. Now? I’m a whale!”

 

Westley laughed. He poured water into her cup. “Believe me, even now, you are in no danger of being mistaken for anything other than a beautiful woman.”

 

A flush came to Buttercup’s cheeks, but she shook her head. He waited patiently while she drank.

 

“So that is what this has all been about, this ‘as you wish’. You’re trying to get me in the mood.”

 

“Not just you,” Westley admitted. He refilled her glass.

 

Buttercup looked doubtfully intrigued. “You like obeying my commands that much?”

 

“Why else would I do it? Oh, I mean, I love you of course. But I discovered all of those years ago that there was a unique pleasure in giving yourself over to a cause, be it country or building a fortune or anything else. Sensibly, I chose to give myself over to a beautiful woman. My purpose in life is making you, and our child, now, very happy.” Westley lay his hand on Buttercup’s belly. He took it as a good sign that Buttercup made no suggestion of wanting him to move it.

 

Buttercup looked from Westley's hand to Westley’s face. “How would we, now, when I’m like this?” Buttercup said, gesturing to her abundance.

 

Keeping his voice and expression as serious as possible, Westley replied, “If you’ll allow me, I’d love to show you.”

 

Buttercup finished off her cup of water, regarding Westley around the rim of the cup. Eventually, Buttercup lay the empty cup on a small table beside her bed. Then she took the pitcher from Westley and placed it beside the cup. Westley was much too smart to argue that that was not a good place to put the pitcher on a ship. If it spilled, it spilled.

 

Buttercup’s perfect lips curved into a smile of challenge. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Her legs fell slightly open. “As you wish.”


End file.
